QUEENSLAND farmers are celebrating boom times, growing some of their best crops ever and enjoying mostly good prices.

Grain growers have planted close to one million hectares of winter wheat and are looking at big returns, thanks to devastating drought in prime US and Russian wheat-growing areas.

Cotton growers have produced record crops two years in a row but sky-high prices of up to $1000 a bale have plummeted to $380.

This is below the break-even $450 mark to be profitable but Dalby grower and Agforce representative Kim Bremner said many growers sold forward crops at much better prices and they should not be too badly affected.

Australian Wheat Board spokesman Peter McBride said prices had risen $100 a tonne over the past two months to about $295 a tonne in a totally weather-driven market.

"How the weather goes here will most likely be the next trigger on world prices," he said.

Queensland farmers planted 950,000ha of wheat as a result of the good rain, slightly down on last year's record crop.

This was expected to return 1.6 million tonnes and potentially a $500 million boom for the bush.

CROP CONCERNS: A farmers group has urged the federal government to put an end to CSIRO trials of genetically modified wheat.Source: AdelaideNow

Mr Bremner tipped the rural boom to continue, with bulging dams set to deliver big grain and cotton crops again next year, despite the prospect of drier conditions.

He said the turnaround in rural production not only boosted country towns but the state as a whole.

Grain, cotton, beef, bananas and small crops all had to be transported, stored, packed and shipped, an enormous amount of work that produced jobs across the state.

An employee is seen working at a quinoa processing plant in Challapata, 117 km from Oruro, Bolivia on February 15, 2011. According to Epifanio Murana, director of the Quinoa Producers Association (ANAPQUI), the crop will become - due to its high nutritious value - an important food source in the future and NASA researchers consider it to be an exceptionally complete and balanced food, adequate for astronauts. AFP PHOTO/Aizar RaldesSource: AFP

"The export volumes are huge," he said. "A record amount of cotton and cotton seed went out the door last month. We were actually concerned about whether we could ship it out fast enough.

"If you think about a town like Dirranbandi that had 13 years of drought, they've now had three crops in a row. It's magnificent and it trickles right through to the city."

Meat and Livestock Australia chief economist Tim McCrae said beef exports were forecast to increase 1 per cent but prices remained subdued, which was due to the the strong Australian dollar and the economic crisis overseas.

And, after falling to its lowest level in almost 100 years, the sheep flock was estimated to have grown about 2.6 per cent in 2011-12 to 75 million head.

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